BAY CITY — Testifying from a witness stand in Bay County District Court, two sisters recalled the day their father Rodney L. Shimel was shot to death in the bedroom of his Bay City home and their mother subsequently charged with the crime.

At a preliminary examination Wednesday in the murder case of Rebecca J. Shimel, her daughters Whitney J. Shimel, 23, and Chelsea L. Shimel, 21, described the sequence of events leading up to their father’s slaying last December.

The sisters — along with their 13-year-old brother — were at the family’s home at 209 N. Sheridan on the afternoon of Dec. 28.

Whitney Shimel said her parents entered their upstairs bedroom and shortly thereafter, she heard a loud thump. The siblings mounted the stairs to investigate and tried forcing open the door. When the door wouldn’t budge, Whitney told her sister to call 911, she said.

“I heard some bangs coming from the bedroom and I started calling for (Chelsea),” the elder Shimel sister said.

“Whitney and (my brother) came running down the stairs and Whitney said she heard gunshots,” said Chelsea Shimel as she wiped away tears.

Aside from identifying their 45-year-old mother, the sisters did not make eye contact with her, focusing on Bay County Assistant Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks or defense attorney Edward M. Czuprynski as they answered questions.

Both sisters testified they were unaware of any unusual family strife. Though their parents argued at times, they never did so over major issues, they said.

In the weeks prior to the shooting, however, Rodney Shimel had been looking for a missing check, asking his daughters if they had seen it, they said. Days after the shooting, Whitney Shimel said she found the missing check hidden in a picture frame.

Within minutes of Chelsea Shimel’s 911 call, Bay City Police Detective John S. May Jr. and two uniformed officers arrived at the scene. Taking the stand, May said he was first up the stairs.

Rebecca Shimel replied to the officers’ demands and exited the bedroom with her hands raised. When May asked where her husband was, she said he was still in the bedroom, May said.

May proceeded inside. “I saw the victim lying face down in a pool of blood,” he said, adding that Rodney Shimel was not moving.

On the bed was a semi-automatic handgun and a box of shells, May said.

May spoke with Rebecca Shimel in the back of a patrol car, where he advised her of her Miranda rights. “She told me that she shot her husband,” he said. “She was calm, coherent. She complied with everything we requested.” He added she didn’t act differently than other shooting suspects he has interviewed.

May noted Shimel had a bruise on her upper left arm. On further inspection, older bruises were uncovered on various parts of Shimel’s body.

Questioned by Czuprynski, May said he had responded to the Shimel residence in the past, once for a domestic violence call and once for a violation of probation. He estimated both were in 2007. Rodney Shimel was arrested in response to the domestic altercation, May said.

Dr. Patrick Cho, a deputy medical examiner in Oakland County, performed the autopsy on Rodney Shimel. Cho determined he was shot nine times, eight in the back of the torso and once in the head.

With testimony concluded, Bay County District Judge Jennifer C. Barnes bound the case over to circuit court, where Shimel will either plead or face a trial on a charge of open murder and felony firearm use. Future court dates are pending.